Trump As A (serious) Test

If you haven’t already seen it, go pick up the current issue of The New Yorker, or at least go to the magazine’s website, and read the following article: Donald Trump and the Stress Test of Liberal Democracy by David Remnick. In it, Remnick makes the fascinating argument that if we…and by we, he means America…are to genuinely oppose Trump, we also have to defend the tolerant, progressive, and “liberal” society of which he is the total antithesis.

He warns that this won’t be easy. We’re not just talking about anti-Trump. It means being for something…for many things. It means working to solve our society’s fundamental problems. It means overcoming our racism, sexism, economic and social divisions. It means bridging the gap between poverty and wealth, and between the various ethnic groups that make up our society. It means defending free elections and fighting voter suppression. It will mean asking some pretty fundamental questions about such sacred cows as “free enterprise” and religion.

These things will be difficult, indeed. But, he warns, they may be absolutely necessary if we want to keep anything like representative democracy in this country. His concluding paragraph needs to be read, if not memorized, by everyone who wishes well for beloved nation, “Such a debate will mean grappling with the many ways in which American values have yet to be fully realized. In the 2016 election, this territory was too often left to Trump’s demagoguery and his promise of simple solutions. But, whether or not the clown car is finally pulled over by the rule of law, the restoration and the renewal of America’s democratic traditions will be achieved only by democratic means.”